Thank you, Mr. Tim

Seat belt

In the middle of the  flight to Sacramento, due to rough weather, the air host, a tall guy , looks down at me and says, your seat belts. I do not remove my seat belts during the entire course of the journey except for a brief while when  I have to go to the….ya the  loo. I look up at him, sets aside the blanket, with a U grin on my face and  taps the buckle. I mean the seat belt,  not your belt, he says. Oops!! , He is right, this time I missed, felt like being seen, pants down.

Bathroom taps

After a 900,000 seconds journey, Sacramento at last, I check into a hotel and the first thing after  I enter a room is to check the bathroom for the tap layouts. Most of the hotels are busy impressing  us by different designs and layouts of  tap  fittings. Whatever I do , no water. I call the help desk at the reception and she gives me a series of instructions over the phone. You pull the knob on the left side and then you turn the one at the extreme right..blah blah..blah. Thank you .Ok here we go and there I am as usual ending up with a cold water reception  on my head, from the shower. The temperature in Sacramento , not very far from zero. A la Mr Beans …

Car rental

Yes, this is enterprise car rent service in Sacramento, what’s your requirement. I need to rent a car for a week. I get picked up and at their office after all verification and signings here , here , here and there, I am shown a beautiful navy blue sonata, with an apology for their inability to provide a better one. Hiding my admiration for the  car, I tell them its Ok, I will manage with this. I get in,  turn the ignition , nothing happens. Do I have to press something more to start the car ? The engine is on, you just have to drive. Wow, I have not heard an engine as silent as this before. Sheepishly I tried to cover up and asked, is there an engine inside, ha ha ha ? He said, how do you think its running, on reputation ?

Tim Dietler

I am here in Sacramento for a serious event, getting subjected to the above comedies. Tim Dietler, a business relation started 20 years ago, turning into an ever lasting friendship, has retired from Alldata, an Autozone company, today

Tim has visited India  hazaar times, since 1996. His passion for photography has captured and documented changes in Bangalore in his film cameras of the earlier days and later in digital ones and has covered every member who has worked with ADC, BFL- MphasiS. During his visits he has attended weddings, birthdays, thread ceremony( he takes off his shoes, squats next to the boy undergoing the thread ceremony and watches the whole thing at close quarters until the end-just imagine) of the team members in India, inspired and motivated us, we the ordinary people, to perform at an  extraordinary level which in turn made us all grow and succeed in our ventures. There are hundreds of them with his blessings, well positioned in life across the globe. Passion for the job, importance of quality, work ethics, communication are what we picked up watching him work.  Interestingly, I do not know whether  he is aware of the magnitude of the impact on the difference,  his personality,  presence, talks and love for us  in India, has made in our lives. His unknown contributions surpass the known ones. I came to thank Tim and express my gratitude for the great time he has given us. Thank you , Mr. Tim.